Eaten Earth
by KingCouch
Summary: The Golden Ring of Power, the only bridge that Tabuu could use to jump from Subspace to "This World."  Crafted with Crazy Hand's powers of destruction, it was sealed away. Five smashers, Meta Knight, Jigglypuff, Yoshi, Lucario, and Kirby can get the ring.
1. Jump

**Who do you think should be an important character: Sonic, or Lucario? Please review and say so!**

**. . . . .**

A chilling wind made Jigglypuff's already cold body shiver. "We're so high up…" she mumbled, looking into the ocean below her.

Jigglypuff and her family were aboard an airship to visit her stepfather's home in the skies. He lived in the city of Nimbulus, amongst the clouds. Jiglypuff had basically lived in the sky her entire life. Travelling from different cities since her father had died was basically what she did every week.

Jigglypuff's mother called her to retreat to the ship's interior. Rain was expected and so was lightning; the ship would have to travel above the clouds.

She sighed, and went inside her room. With nothing else to do, she decided to lay on her bed. "I hate traveling all the time," she thought.

She became relaxed in her bed, and fell into a slumber…

**. . . . .**

The Yoshi race worked tirelessly to survive. Presented the unpredictable conditions, and hard means of finding food, it was a cruel way to live.

They lived underground, in tribes based on their color, a system thought up by a past Yoshi chief. It caused many families to live apart from each other; a meeting with all Yoshi tribes did not occur often.

Many groups of Yoshis were farmers. A green Yoshi tribe member, nameless, like other Yoshis, was working in his field section when one of his friends came by. The only way to really talk to friends was for nicknames.

"Hey there, Bruise," he said. Bruise was the friend's nickname.

"Hiya, Ace," Bruise said.

"Weird hot day, huh? I'm scared my berry bush will get too hot, I'm going to get some groundwater." Colonies were set up by places where groundwater was very likely to settle.

"Alright, I'll come with you."

The two green Yoshi friends had made it to the water spot when they decided to rest. They were throwing some pebbles into the water, seeing how many times they could get it to skim.

Ace went to pick up another rock when the ground shook a bit.

"…Oh god. An earthquake is coming," Bruise said, panicking.

The ground began to shake more and more violently. Ace and Bruise panicked as earth began to crumble down near them. They could hear screaming coming from their colony. They jumped to the ground, seeing they could do nothing else. When the shaking stopped, they opened their eyes to see a huge rock, blocking them from the rest of their colony.

"Oh no. Oh no oh no," Bruise said, getting scared. "This isn't happening! No…"

"Bruise, calm down!" Ace shouted. "Look!" Ace pointed toward a tiny gleam of light peaking out of the top of the underground.

"Is it the above land?" Bruise asked.

"Let's found out," Ace said.

**. . . . .**

Jigglypuff was awoken by an explosion. She could hear screaming coming from different families. She jumped to her feat. Would she dare open her door leading to the hallway? She slowly turned it open, to find it empty, but screams could still be heard from other people's cabins. She ran up to the deck, to find the captain (a human) of the ship being harassed by a blue-looking creature.

"Where is she? Where is the girl Jigglypuff, that bringer of destruction?" he said, choking him.

"I'll…never tell you!"

"Wrong answer," he tersely said.

Two smaller beings of his same species charged up two blue balls, and threw them at the captain. He winced in pain.

"Tell me," he snarled.

"Captain, there she is!" one of the henchman shouted, pointing at Jigglypuff.

She panicked and ran back into the hallway, the three men pursuing her. She found a door, but it just led to the back of the ship, the ocean below her. The three men began to slowly walk toward her.

"Let's get her, boys," the blue figure said.

"You got it, Lucario," the henchmen said.

Jigglypuff didn't know what to do. She looked back toward the ocean again, before jumping into it, the airship vanishing from her sight, she plummeting toward the glistening blue water.

**. . . . . **

**Well, that was short. My other stories are on hold, I guess, because I don't think they have enough plot. I'll update them after Christmas though. **


	2. Arrive

Happy holidays to all my readers out there! Now…disclaimer! Which I never do, but I know I should! Since no Yoshi characters are in the chapter (sniff), Bruise will do the disclaimer!

Bruise: Sadly, KingCouch does not any Nintendo characters.

**. . . . .**

Just a few seconds from impact, Jigglypuff braced herself.

Shocks were sent through her body as Jigglypuff entered the cold water. She opened her eyes. The water was murky from pollution. Realizing she was sinking, she puffed herself up and floated toward the surface. She looked around. No civilization. She was in the middle of nowhere.

For minutes she sat there, shivering, hoping a ship would come and rescue her. Her wishes came true when she noticed a gray submarine had surfaced.

The submarine looked like one that tourists would ride in, with glass windows around the side of it. Jigglypuff dove underwater and knocked on the glass, hoping to get the driver's attention. She succeeded, and the submarine's hatchet opened.

She jumped into the vessel. The first words to come out of her mouth were, "Thank you so much! I'm Jigglypuff, and you?"

Another puffball, blue in color, but with a mask and purple cape, turned around. "Meta Knight," he answered.

Jigglypuff sat down on one of the submarine benches. "Well, thanks. Can you take me to shore? It's a long story on how I got all the way down to this place, but depending on how long the drive is, I could tell you."

Meta Knight turned back to the submarine's large steer, and said, "We should be there in ten minutes."

"Hmm, okay. Probably not enough time. But anyways, is this your submarine?"

"No," Meta Knight tersely replied.

"Really? Is it a friend's?" Jigglypuff asked.

"It is a rental."

"A rental? Don't they usually come with a submarine captain or something?" Jigglypuff said, smiling, hoping to get the man to laugh.

She failed. "I prefer to drive myself," he answered.

"Okay… so where are we going?" she asked.

"Smash City."

"Really? That's sounds… cool, I guess. I come from the Sky lands, and I've always wondered what your cities are like."

Meta Knight remained silent. Jigglypuff sat there awkwardly, trying to find something to talk about. For about five minutes, she looked out into the ocean, when a question came to her mind.

"Could… I stay at your house tonight? I don't have anywhere to go until I can go back up to my parents."

"Fine," Meta Knight replied, in a slightly exasperated voice.

"Cool, thanks again!" Jigglypuff said with excitement.

The pair finally reached Smash City. Jigglypuff had many questions for Meta Knight, such as, "what building is that?" or, "do you know that guy?" Meta Knight answered most of the questions in a one to two words, but there was one question that he explained quite thoroughly.

Smash City had many small buildings settled around one big stadium[*1]. The buildings were mostly gray, and most seemed fairly old or in need of fixing up. Even though the city was right next to the ocean, it looked nothing like the beautiful cities with sunshine and palm trees that Jigglypuff had heard about. The roads were made out of dirt, but most were muddy. The clouds were big and gray, and they covered up the sun almost all the time.

The gargantuan stadium definitely stood out compared to the other buildings. It truly was huge, and had

"Hey, that's a big stadium… what is it used for? Sports or something?" Jigglypuff asked.

Meta Knight sighed. "That is called 'Brawl Stadium,' and it is operated by Master Hand and his brother, Crazy Hand. Sometimes villagers will enter the stadium to fight other villagers, or to endure other challenges. Master Hand is like the tyrant of this city, he is partially fair, but ignores most of the citizen's pleas. He is obsessed over this 'Brawl' system, and sometimes forces citizens to enter in its challenges."

Jigglypuff was surprised. "Wow… have you ever fought in it?"

"Twice. Now come on, we have to get to my house."

Meta Knight called on a horse chariot, and told him where to go. Minutes passed, with Jigglypuff looking at the city, seeing several different business shops. _Peach's Bed & Breakfast_, _Zelda's Tailor Shop_, _Snake's Artillary_, and more.

Jigglypuff noticed they were seemingly leaving the city. "Hey, where are we going?"

"My house, remember?"

"Yeah… but… never mind," Jigglypuff said, (attempting to) cross her stubby arms.

Finally, the carriage stopped. Meta Knight gave the man some money, and Jigglypuff got off. Meta Knight too had a business, called _The Smith_. When she questioned him about it, he told her that he was a blacksmith.

Entering the house, she saw tons of different swords of different lengths. Some were as small as daggers, some were much taller than she was. She also noticed different weapons and utilities, such as hammers, axes, maces, horshoes, pots and pans, silverware, and more.

"Woah… this is so cool! You make all this stuff?"

Jigglypuff didn't notice Meta Knight heading upstairs. "Hey, wait!" she called after him.

The upstairs was relatively small, with basically two bedrooms and a bathroom. "You may sleep in there," Meta Knight said, pointing toward one room. Jigglypuff nodded, before heading toward it and jumping on the bed.

"I hope my family is okay," Jigglypuff thought.

_"Where is she? Where is the girl Jigglypuff, that bringer of destruction?" _Jigglypuff remembered the blue figure,

She quickly drifted into a slumber.

**. . . . .**

The next morning, Jigglypuff got up, made the bed, and headed downstairs. She noticed Meta Knight was working, and decided not to disturb him. She headed into his small kitchen and made her some toast.

She heard a knock on the door. Meta Knight walked up and opened it. A human stood before Meta Knight, fairly tall with blonde hair and a pink dress.

"Hi, Mety! I'm here to get my kitchen utensils that I ordered!" She said with much enthusiasm. Meta Knight nodded, disappearing for a second, then reappearing with several dishes, pots, and pans.

"Aww, thanks! My customers were complaining how old the plates were, and my pans were rusty too. Oh, umm, here's your money." Peach said, before giving him a couple of golden coins.

"Hey, who's that? Is that your girlfriend?" Peach pointed at Jigglypuff, and winked at Meta Knight.

Jigglypuff immediately blushed, but Meta Knight didn't react at all. "She is a simple houseguest. You wouldn't mind if we drove back to the city with you, no?"

"Not at all! I'm looking forward to meeting your 'houseguest.'" Peach said, again winking. Meta Knight shook his head, before they all headed into the carriage.

Jigglypuff sat next to Peach. "Hi, I'm Jigglypuff. I saw your Bed and Breakfast business on the way to Meta Knight's house! I wish I could stay!"

Peach smiled. "It's a lovely little place, you should come!"

"I don't have any money, that's the problem."

"Really? Why not?"

Jigglypuff glanced around. "Well… umm, I'm not from here. I didn't plan on coming here either, I was stranded, but Meta Knight found me."

"Oh, no! Well, if you ever come by, I'll give you a two nights for the price of one." Peach said with a smile. She was certainly friendlier than Meta Knight. The carriage reached Peach's business and she got out, saying bye to the two puffballs. Then Jigglypuff remembered to ask Meta Knight where they were going.

"Crazy Hand's Dojo," he told her, as they arrived at a building next to the Brawl Stadium.

They entered, and it was fairly empty. Meta Knight pressed a few buttons, and the dojo transformed into a battlefield. A strange robotic-like figure jumped out at us. Meta Knight pulled out a golden sword and slashed at it, knocking it off the field.

"That was an alloy. I want to see you fight one."

Jigglypuff's eyes went wide at the request. "Are you sure?"

Meta Knight nodded. "I see potential in you."

Jigglypuff nodded, and a green alloy came out at her. Not knowing what to do, she took her small arm and punched at it. The alloy took minimal damage. She decided to try something she'd seen her late father do before. She stood still, and began to charge up a roll. After she was spinning very fast, she launched herself at the enemy, knocking it off the field. Jigglypuff cheered.

More alloys came out at her, and she practiced that one attack, and knocked out about five more.

"Whew... I'm tired, can we take a break?" Jigglypuff asked.

Meta Knight nodded, and the dojo transformed to normal. The two did not know that Crazy Hand was watching.

"Bravo, magnificent fight, really! If Master Hand were here, we would be applauding! Yeah, hard to do with one hand. You have to be a good fighter in this town, you know. Come on, you have to go to the stadium and fight. You really must! You're great! Come on now, erm, what's your name?" the large floating gloved hand asked.

"Wait, no, I don't want to fight!" Jigglypuff shouted.

"That wasn't the question, missy! What's your name, now? Come on, tell ol' Crazy Hand!"

"Erm… Jigglypuff."

"Jigglypuff! Great name! Come on now!" Crazy Hand said, dragging her into the stadium. Meta Knight followed.

Meta Knight whispered to Jigglypuff, "I knew this would happen. I wanted to warm you up before Crazy Hand discovered you were here, and dragged you into a battle before you were ready at all."

Jigglypuff nodded, but was still scared. Crazy Hand threw her out into the Stadium. Suddenly, Jigglypuff heard a booming voice.

"Hello audience! Looks like we have a new challenger! Crazy, what's her name?"

"It's Jigglypuff, Master Hand!" Crazy Hand said.

"Well, as you all know, I am **'M'**…aster Hand. This is **'C'**…razy Hand, and together, we are your **MC**s! [*2]"

"Righto, Master Hand! Now the opponent Jigglypuff will be facing is… Kirby!" Crazy Hand shouted, before another pink puffball appeared on the stage.

"3…2…1… fight!" The two hands shouted.

**. . . . .**

[*1 – This is _not _the stadium that appeared in the Subspace Emissary. Just to be clear.]

[*2 – I'm talking about an emcee (aka **M**aster of **C**eremonies, making **MC**) which is the person who hosts an event.]

Jigglypuff has not discovered her other attacks yet.


	3. Discover

Yay for chapter three! I finally have this story all figured out… I think. Also, I think I fixed most of my chapter two mistakes. So yay, if you've already read chapter two, I suggest you quickly re-read it just so you can kind of get a grasp at what Smash City actually looks like. Disclaimer! Meta Knight?

Meta Knight: KingCouch does not own any Nintendo characters. He does own Ace and Bruise, the two Yoshis, and the story itself.

Alright, so I'm not so good at fight scenes, but I'll try.

**. . . . . **

"_3…2…1…Fight!"_

Kirby lunged himself at Jigglypuff, foot forward. Jigglypuff barely dodged it; she jumped up and began to pound at Kirby with her feet. The crowd cheered. Kirby took out a sword and brought Jigglypuff up into the air with it, and slammed her back down. To Jigglypuff's surprise, no blood was drawn from her. She noticed a computer that read, _Brawl Simulation: ON_, so she guessed that protected her from actually getting seriously hurt. She began to charge up another Rolling attack [*1], and launched herself at Kirby. He got hit and was sent flying, but he recovered.

He ran up to Jigglypuff and… swallowed her?

He spit out Jigglypuff, now having ears just like hers, and began to do the same rolling attack she just did. Jigglypuff pounded at him before he could release the attack.

Jigglypuff stopped moving. Her eyes became droopy, and she fought to keep them open.

_Sleep, Jigglypuff. Sleep…_

Kirby was about to smack Jigglypuff, but she did not care. She fell asleep, and the world went dark…

**. . . . .**

Ace and Bruise crawled out of the hole created by the tremor. They looked around, and they were in a sandy barren land.

"Look, Ace! There are some structures over there… maybe there are people in there," Bruise said, walking toward the buildings.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? I think that we should go back and help rescue everyone…" Ace said, a little timidly.

"Well, we can't save them right now. We need to get help first, and there's bound to be someone that will help us in those places. Come on, let's go!" Bruise said, running off.

Ace sighed, and ran after him. While he was running, a green ring, slightly buried in sand, caught his eye. He quickly grabbed it, and ran after Bruise.

**. . . . .**

Jigglypuff awoke. She was sitting in a chair, in a small steel room. She noticed a gray door; she went to open it, but it was locked. She sat back down on the cold chair.

She waited and waited. She even tried knocking on the door, but nothing happened. Jigglypuff sighed. "I hope this isn't what my family is going through right now…" she thought.

Suddenly, a deep, but quiet, voice spoke. "_Hello, Jigglypuff…"_

"Hey… who said that?" Startled, she jumped under her chair.

"_I cannot be with you… but I can be near you. You can't see me, but I can see you,_" the voice said.

"Who… are you?" Jigglypuff questioned.

"_I am afraid that I cannot give away my identity yet. But I can tell you where I am…_ _you see, I am right next to you, in a way. In a different dimension, that is where I am. I am trapped in this dimension. It's like I'm captured… such as your family._"

"How do you know that!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"_I can see all that is going on with you. You just can't see me. I've been with you, Jigglypuff. People are out to get you, understand that. Right now you are safe, but I did not trap you in this room,_" the voice explained.

"Why am I being targeted?" Jigglypuff asked.

"_Look at your necklace…_" the voice told her.

Jigglypuff looked at the necklace that fit her puffball shape. It was a thin necklace, and it had been her grandmothers, who lived in the Sky world. There was a red ring attached to the necklace at the bottom.

"Why would someone want this necklace? It's not worth much… I just like it because my grandma gave it to me," Jigglypuff said.

"_There is more power on there than you think… people want that power and they want to abuse the true purpose of it,_" the voice echoed, before disappearing.

"Hey, wait! I still have questions!" Jigglypuff yelled.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Master Hand revealed himself. "Jigglypuff? Are you alright?"

"Well, not really, since you locked me in here for… like, forever!" she pouted.

"Come along, young one," he said, pushing her toward a larger room where Crazy Hand was.

Jigglypuff stared at the room. It had a golden staircase that led up to two chairs; Jigglypuff assumed one was for each of the Hands.

"Jigglypuff… this Crazy Hand is a fake." Master Hand said.

"What? Why are you telling me this?" she asked. Before she could understand what was going on, Master Hand punched the Crazy Hand and drove him into a wall. "Crazy Hand" fell onto the floor, with small jolts of electricity coming out of it.

"Let me see your neck," Master Hand commanded.

"What? I'd rather not…" Jigglypuff told him.

Master Hand seized Jigglypuff and examined the small, thin necklace. "Oh, never mind. You may go now."

"Why did you do that?" Jigglypuff asked.

Master Hand turned around. "Your red ring…. Don't lose it," he told her, before dismissing her.

Jigglypuff ran rather quickly out of Master Hand's home. Too much had been going on for her. She decided to walk towards Meta Knight's house [*2]. "It's going to be a long way home," Jigglypuff thought.

**. . . . .**

(**A/N: **This took place while Jigglypuff was in her cell… and after she got out.)

"I don't have any rings or anything! I'm not married, if that's what you wanted to know for some creepy reason!" Kirby yelled at Master Hand [*3].

Master Hand turned away from Kirby and faced toward his chair. "Hmm… you aren't lying."

Kirby stood there, dumbfounded. "Umm, duh!"

Master Hand turned back at Kirby. "Okay then. You may go," he said.

Kirby walked away from Master Hand, and toward his restaurant that he owned, called _Kirby's Diner. _He loved his job, and since he was a great cook and he loved food, he had good business. He only had three employees; they were all waiters. A Waddle Dee, a Waddle Doo, and his friend named Biospark.

Kirby worked at his establishment until he saw Jigglypuff walk by.

"Hey, Jigglypuff!" he shouted at her, getting her attention.

"Huh? Oh, hey Kirby," she said, turning toward Kirby.

"Are you all better? After you somehow knocked me out by… I think, like, by sleeping… Master Hand said he took you to the hospital to make sure you were alright. How did you do that, anyways?" Kirby asked.

"What? I don't remember going to the hospital! I woke up in a weird room! Then Master Hand came and started questioning me about this necklace I have, and this ring I have on it. Weird, right?" Jigglypuff told him.

"Really? He did the same to me, but I don't have any rings," he replied. "Maybe he wants to sell yours or something, heh."

"I don't think so, it's not worth anything. Hey, I'm hungry; can I get something to eat? I don't have any money with me, and I haven't eaten all day," Jigglypuff said.

Kirby led her inside his restaurant, after a quick "Sure!" He cooked himself and Jigglypuff two hot soups, and gave Jigglypuff the food.

After the two were done eating and talking, Kirby asked, "Hey, do you want to sleep at my house tonight? I've never seen you before, so you must live pretty far away from here."

"Farther than you think," Jigglypuff thought, but she didn't dare say it out loud. She thought about Meta Knight, but then she looked at the setting sun. "He'll be fine," she thought again, before accepting Kirby's invitation.

It was a short walk to get to Kirby's house, but the uncomfortable dirt and rocky roads wore out Jigglypuff faster than she expected. Kirby showed her the room she would be staying in, then they both went to sleep.

**. . . . .**

(**A/N**: Gosh, I'm not focusing on the Yoshi duo at all! Unfortunately, another short scene, but an important one, I guess.)

After a good estimated ten miles, Ace and Bruise were worn out. Yoshis were fast runners and had high stamina, but the wind was blowing against them and the sand would get in their eyes. The pair decided it would be best to rest for the night.

"Wow, it's getting cold! I always heard that the above land deserts were really hot," Bruise commented.

"Hot in the day, cold at night, I guess," Ace said, pulling out the green ring he had found in the desert. He didn't show Bruise, he just looked at it.

After studying it for a few moments, Ace slipped the ring on his finger. Suddenly, he seemingly disappeared from the desert.

When Ace opened his eyes, he could still see Bruise, but he also saw a blue, hologram looking figure staring at him. He noticed a large golden ring, one that Master Hand would likely wear. He looked back at the blue hologram and saw destruction around him. Creatures being made out of purple blobs, and they were escaping Ace's view. The land seemed purple, and evil seemed to radiate from it. He found himself getting tired, but he pulled off the green ring before he could fall asleep.

"Ace! Ace! Are you alright?" Bruise said, shaking him. "You look like you just passed out. Well, you were never the best runner, but still!"

"Oh… umm, I'll be alright. Yeah, I think the stress from that earthquake is messing with me," he convinced Bruise.

"Okay, don't worry, we'll rescue our friends soon," Bruise reassured him.

**. . . . .**

A/N: You all are probably confused about all these rings that are showing up, but don't worry! Time will tell what they're doing in this story (and by that, I mean probably the next chapter.) They are actually pretty important to the story, and I know it's kind of late to introduce them, but hey, we're still in the exposition, I guess.

See any mistakes? Like, spelling mistakes, amateur writing mistakes, anything? Tell me in a review!

[*1: This is Jigglypuff's rollout attack. In _SSBB_, it's her standard special move.]  
[*2: Jigglypuff doesn't have any money on her, so she can't call upon a horse chariot driver, or anything. Does anybody know if there's a special name for them? I know there's charioteer, but are there any other names?]  
[*3: Yes, I'm aware that Kirby is not actually able to talk, but for this story, he is. He's not a baby anymore like he was in the anime… I guess.]


	4. Dive

A/N: Wow, sorry for the lack of updating! School projects, district orchestra, and plenty of other excuses that you don't care about. Warning: contains some KirbyxJigglypuff flirting, but don't think much of it, MetaxJiggly fans! How DOES Meta Knight feel about this? Hmmm...

* * *

Jigglypuff had been away longer than Meta Knight had anticipated. He was almost certain that she would come back to his house, having no place to stay. Master Hand had dismissed the entire Brawl Stadium audience once Jigglypuff went unconscious, so they could get her to what Master Hand had told everyone to be a hospital. There were only two hospitals in Smash City, Toad's Clinic, for simple treatments, and DMM (Dr. Mario Medical) for aggressively attentive problems.

Meta Knight walked out of his house, called upon a carriage, and began to go near the heart of Smash City. Of course, Toad's Clinic was not far off from Brawl Stadium, just in case of accidents. Getting seriously hurt in a brawl was extremely rare.

Meta Knight had reached the clinic. He walked inside and headed toward the reception desk.

"Hello, may I help you?" a Toadette, with boredom, asked, not bothering to look up from her computer.

"I'm looking for the room of someone named Jigglypuff," he told her.

"Hold on," the Toadette replied, doing a quick search for Jigglypuff. "Her name isn't showing up, sir. She isn't with us right now."

"Can you tell me when she checked out?" Meta Knight asked.

The Toadette sighed, before punching more keys into the computer. "I have no history of anybody named Jigglypuff within the past month. Come again, sir," the receptionist said, shooing Meta Knight away. Well, not literally, but she strongly implied it.

Meta Knight walked out of the hospital. "There's no way that she was in need for Dr. Mario's hospital," he thought. "Where could she be?"

Just then, Meta Knight heard a familiar sound. It was Jigglypuff's voice! He hid behind a building, paying close attention. He could recognize another voice, belonging to... Kirby? Meta Knight's rival?

Meta Knight thought about interrupting their conversation, but decided against it.

"Hmm… Jigglypuff will get along fine with Kirby. They've seemed to become good friends... I'll keep an eye on them," Meta Knight thought to himself. He still wondered about the hospital incident. What was going on?

* * *

"Ace, are you awake?" Bruise said, shaking him. Ace groaned.

"Well, I am now, genius," Ace sarcastically said, with signs if tiredness in his voice.

"Oh, quit whining. We need to get a fresh start if we are going to make it to that city and back to our friends," Bruise said.

Ace stood up and sighed. The desert sand was warm. "Alright, give me a minute."

Ace walked off near a cactus. It would be a good excuse to make it appear like he would be examining this strange above land plant to Bruise.

He took his green ring and put it underneath his shell. Yoshis have small red shells on their backs that were used to carry water in the old days, but buckets were eventually used to carry more water.

He walked back to Bruise. "Alright, let's go."

Bruise smirked. "Interesting plant?"

"Uhh, yeah. It's prickly..." Ace replied, before the two took off.

Running was still hard to do in the sand, but the two pressed on. They finally ran into some blue figure.

"Sir? Excuse me, could you help us?" Bruise asked.

The blue figure turned around. "Erm, what's the situation?"

"Well... you probably wouldn't believe us if we told you the whole story, but basically our friends are trapped underground and we need help. We might need more help than just you, though..." Ace explained.

The blue figure chuckled. "Well, I think I could help. Follow me," he said, directing them to a large building.

* * *

Meta Knight went to CFV, a vehicle store, near the ocean. He walked inside, and was greeted by the store owner.

"Meta Knight, my favorite submarine renter! I assume you're here exactly for that," Captain Falcon yelled.

Meta Knight nodded. He paid Falcon a sum of money, hopped into the submarine, and closed the hatchet.

Meta Knight was now completely submerged. He took out a map which he had made, titled, "Possible Sunken Halberd Locations." He would be trying a new spot today.

Meta Knight travelled a good twenty minutes before the ocean floor rose up.

To his luck, there was the Halberd! Meta Knight marked a giant 'X' on this map location. He went to the water's surface and got his scuba gear ready.

Meta Knight gulped. The ship wasn't even that far down. He could do this. He's swam in tons of oceans before as a part of his training, without scuba gear! Oh well. Meta Knight wasn't a big fan of water. Well, in fact, Meta Knight almost feared water. No... that's not right. A Star Warrior, scared of a little water?

After hesitating, Meta Knight jumped into the ocean. He swam down, rested, swam down, rested, etcetera. He finally reached the Halberd. "Okay, time to check out the damage," Meta Knight thought.

To his surprise, it wasn't as beat up as he thought it was. Of course, it would need some major repair, but he's done it before, he can do it again.

He was about to swim back up, when he noticed a glistening blue ring; Meta Knight wondered how that could have ended up near his ship. It seemed to match his skin tone, so he grabbed it, intrigued by the thing. He quickly swam back up.

Meta Knight jumped back into his submarine. He placed the mysterious ring in his cape pocket, and drove back to Smash City. "Maybe this ring can be of use at my blacksmith shop," he thought to himself.

* * *

"So, what you're saying is, you can rescue the survivors of the earthquake, carry them back, and provide them with jobs?" Bruise asked, surprised.

"Of course. I probably can't hire them all... but I can definitely use a good five more employees," he said. "Erm, if it interests you, that five will include you two."

"Wow, thanks, sir!"

"Please, call me Lucario."

"What kind of business do you run?"

"Oh, mainly catching criminals. I guess you could call me the police, in a way. What are you two into?" Lucario asked.

"Farming," they both replied. The Green Yoshi race had always done that, but other tribe races would not reveal what practices they did.

The rescue party's mission had begun. Lucario had fetched his three workers, all Riolu. They were smaller than Lucario, but still looked strong and determined.

The Yoshi duo was surprised. He only had three workers, and they were all fairly small. Lucario told them not to worry, rocks are weak against fighting and steel, but Ace and Bruise didn't quite understand what he meant. [*1]

They travelled fairly quickly, with a few small stops here and there. Sometimes at night, Ace would wander off and make sure his ring was safe.

The group had finally reached the hole where Ace and Bruise had escaped out of.

"Here it is, Sir Lucario," Ace told him.

"Just Lucario, please," he reminded him, before directing the Riolu to jump into the hole.

Ace and Bruise followed suit. When they reached the bottom, they saw Lucario giving commands to his assistants.

"Alright, use Force Palm! Give it your all! No mercy!"

The Riolus continually used some attack with their hands until the rock was about to crumble. Then, Lucario dashed toward it at a blinding speed, smashing it all. He signaled the two Yoshis to come on.

When Ace and Bruise walked through the crumbled remains of the rock, they saw a despairing site. Their friends were dead. And they both knew why; the rock cut off entrance to the watering hole.

"Sir Lucario, sir, this Yoshi is red, and unconscious!" a Riolu shouted.

The news was alarming to Ace and Bruise, and they both dashed over to the red Yoshi.

"Oh my... Ace, this is Susie! She somehow turned red!" Bruise shouted. "Go get some water!"

Back in record time, Ace got the water and gently poured it over Susie's face. She twitched, and opened her eyes.

"Oh thank goodness... Susie, it's Ace and Bruise! We're here to rescue you!"

"Oh, and also, you've turned red," Bruise pointed out.

Susie sat up. Ace gave her some more water, and she quickly drank it.

"Please get me out of here..." she whispered.

Ace and Bruise nodded, and Bruise carried her to the above land, with Lucario and the Riolus not far behind. They set her on the desert's now cold sand, since it was night.

She sat up and looked at her skin tone with a puzzled look in her face. "I always suspected that all Yoshi color races had very close links..." she spoke, for the first time.

"How do you suppose this happened?" Ace asked.

"Survival. Red Yoshis don't need much water intake."

He nodded. They were all very tired, so they decided to rest. Soon, everybody was asleep; they needed their rest for the return trip.

* * *

[The Next Day...]

"Wow, thanks for taking me to the beach, Kirby!" Jigglypuff exclaimed.

"Yeah. If you'd been here ten years ago, the beach would have looked a lot better. Now, it's really polluted out in the distance, but the shore isn't so bad."

"Really? Why does it get polluted?" Jigglypuff asked.

"People like Meta Knight; they drive their little marine vehicles all the time. The gas gets in the water and pollutes it." This made Jigglypuff confused, since airship travel used wind currents. She decided to dismiss the issue and ask him something else that caught her attention.

"How do you know Meta Knight?"

"Well... it's complicated. I don't know if I should trust him or not; sometimes, he's kind of evil, but other times, he'll teach me something about myself."

"Yeah, I've met him," Jigglypuff began, "but he doesn't seem that evil. He was actually pretty nice to me."

"...Maybe he likes you," Kirby teased.

Jigglypuff blushed. "Naw, I've known him for like a day. And, might I point out that you're being a lot more friendly and attentive than he was being," Jigglypuff smirked.

"H-hey! Well, that's not fair, because Meta Knight's usually not that friendly..." Kirby said, with rosy cheeks.

Jigglypuff laughed. "Oh, you know I'm teasing. Hey, why don't we go swimming? You said the... pollushin... wasn't that bad."

"Pollution, Jiggly," Kirby winked. "And, alright, let's go!"

The two new friends played in the shallow water, splashing water in each other's faces and attempting to body surf with the round bodies. The two were having a great time, until they heard a shrill call.

Kirby and Jigglypuff gasped. It was a small baby bird with its feet tangled in plastic. Kirby ran over to it, and Jigglypuff watched him.

Kirby calmly approached the baby, but it couldn't run our fly away with its feet in the condition they were in. He gently worked the plastic around its legs until he could pull off the plastic, setting the small bird free.

"Aww, that was so sweet!" Jigglypuff exclaimed.

Kirby blushed. "Well, I'm pretty involved in beach cleanup. It's good publicity for my restaurant, too! But yeah, I hate people who leave things like that on the beach!"

"I'm sure it'll get better some day," Jigglypuff said.

"I hope so," Kirby replied. Then, he noticed a silver ring, halfway buried in the sand. "Hey Jiggs, check it out!"

He picked up the silver ring. "It kind of looks like your red one," he remarked. "I'll keep it, just for that."

Jigglypuff smiled. "Just don't let Master Hand find out about it."

The two briefly laughed, before they sat next to each other by the setting sun.

"Jigglypuff, this is officially the best beach day ever," Kirby said.

"I agr-" Jigglypuff was cut off by several people surrounding her.

A blue figure stepped up in front of her. Jigglypuff gasped, it was the same man she had seen from the ship. To keep them from escaping, he had the Yoshis and Riolus form a circle.

"Hello, Jigglypuff," Lucario said.

* * *

A/N: Gasp! Our possibly too friendly friends have been surronded. Don't kill me, MetaxJiggly shippers! This will only add to the drama... hehe! Also, yay for Susie! No, she's not a main character, so yay for no Mary Sueage!

I wanted to try a more casual narration style… so here it is!

[*1 – Pokemon types! I don't know all that much about Pokemon, but rock is weak against fighting and steel, which Lucario and Riolu are.]


	5. Author Temporary Notes

This is a quick update just to show you I haven't abandoned my story. This "chapter" will be taken down soon, when I update the actual chapter five for my story.

Sorry for the seemingly complete ignorance of my story! I've had not one, not two, not three, but four family deaths within the past two months. So, of course, this hinders my creative mind and the amount of time I have to write my story. I've also had a bunch of stuff on my school agenda.

Please don't review saying "I'm so sorry," save your reviews for the chapter coming soon! Because… I don't think double-reviews are allowed for a chapter.

So, yeah, that's pretty much it. Sorry if you were expecting something, but I hope to get the chapter up by Friday. Thanks for your cooperation!

-KingCouch


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